1. Up date on New Book Coming Out by Christopher Duffy. Instrument of War, the new book on the Austrian army during the Seven Years War (Part 1 of two parts) by Christopher Duffy, is slated to be available at Historicon in July of this year says Todd Fisher of the Emperor's Press.

2. Fred Anderson, the author of A Peoples' Army : Massachusetts Soldiers and Society in the Seven Years War, has a new book out on the French and Indian War. It is entitled Crucible of War: The Seven Years War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766. I just finished reading the copy I received through the History Book Club. It may supplant the works of Parkman and Gipson as an effective narrative of the French and Indian War. At 862 pp., 90 b&w illustrations & 9 maps, it is published by Alfred H. Knopf in New York. It should be available through most bookstores. No doubt On Military Matters will be stocking it.

3. Return of Letter Page: Commencing with this issue, it's back!

Letters To The Editor

4. Don McHugh of 16, The Penns, Kenn Moor Fields, Clevedon, North Somerset, England, BS21 5AN writes:

"In answer to your question in the current issue [Vol. XI, No. 2], I for one do not mind if the content is historical or wargaming, as long as it is on the Seven Years War. I for one am not interested in what new periods Wargames Foundry may or may not be producing next. I have joined the association because of my interest in the Seven Years War and to exchange information with people with the same interest.

"I would welcome the return of the letters page. When Bill Protz produced the Journal, it was the letters page that I read first. There was many a time that members wrote in about a past article and filled in the missing pieces. On that note please find enclosed some follow up on the articles on the Hessian Army.

"I read with interest the two articles on the re-organization of the army of Hesse-Cassel. I have often wondered why they felt the need to divide the regiments in two. There does not appear to be any problem with the army's performance. They certainly were not overwhelmed by a sudden influx of recruits. The reason given was to make the French believe that the army had doubled in size. But why would the French believe this, surely when you are observing a large body of troops on the move, it is hard to estimate their size, let alone identify individual battalions. It would appear that Prince Ferdinand had not grasped the change, as he continued to allocate the new smaller battalions the same duties as the original battalions. This began to bring the Hessians' performance into question. I wonder if the answer lies with the way in which the British paid for their services. Was the army paid on the basis of the number of men fielded or the number of battalions fielded?"

5. Paul Petri writes:

"I would just like to thank everyone who attended the Seven Years War Association Convention this past March 31 April 1. Attendance was at an all time high of 125 people plus quite a few that arrived so late on Saturday that we didn't charge them to get in or bother to count them in the total. We had 95 for the banquet, another high. I was very pleased with the new location in the hotel and it seemed that all went well with the change of location to the 20th floor. The only complaint I had was that it was awfully hot up there on Friday even with my constant begging of the hotel staff to help out with this problem. The only change in format for next year is to have Dr. Duffy talk before dinner so that all that heavy gaming and mass food consumption does not over power us. The hotel will give us the entire 6th floor banquet area so that half can be used for the talk and the other half will be for dinner right after the lecture. Should work out quite well!

"My special thanks go to all of the hard-core and self sacrificing game judges who came and set up their excellent painted troops and terrain. Without you guys we wouldn't have the convention that we have. I would also like to thank all of the dealers who made the long trip with all of their very cool stuff so that we gamers could happily spend all of our money.

"As a final note the convention will be held March 30-31, 2001 same location. Room rates remained the same and it's never too early to book your rooms."

"Jim Purky mentioned in his last column that he was unaware of any Hanoverian flags in 25mm being available. I would like to alert everyone that there are 3 flag sheets out in 25mm for the Hanoverians that I am aware of. First is two sheets put out by DPC under their Parade Ground flags. They have two sheets that cover 24 different regiments of infantry. The next one is put out by Outland of Ohio, which is one flag sheet that has 11 infantry standards and 4 cavalry standards. All are quite good with Outlands flags edging out DPC by a hair on quality. I will be using both for my western theater armies that have just hit the production line."

6. David Niblock writes:

"Remember that great bookshop in Berlin? Well it's got a web site www.zinnfigur.com

An English version will be available later this year."

Dave refers to Herr Scholtz's Preussisches Bücherkabinett located at Knesebeckstrasse 88, 10623 Berlin, Germany, a lovely place where many of my dollars have mysteriously vanished over these past few years. This is a great bookstore with many titles, mostly in German, on the Seven Years War.

7. Dave Doty of the Dayton Painting Consortium, writes:

"After looking closely at the map of the battle of Mehr I got from you at the SYWA convention, I felt the need to give you a product review type plug in the HMGS GL newsletter. I fully intend to use your map when I run Mehr at Origins this year as well as any other time I run it."

The review reads as follows:

"Last weekend was the SYW Association Convention in South Bend IN. In addition to some most excellent period gaming and Prof. Duffy's lecture, I found a product that I feel obliged to tell our membership about.

"Now available from James Mitchell of Old Battlefields Press are a series of battle maps with an accompanying OB and thumbnail history of the action for only $3.00 each. These cover the War of the Austrian Succession, The Seven Years War and the War of American Independence. Each map is done in color with all terrain features clearly indicated as well as the initial deployment of the opposing forces. When appropriate, the opening movements of the antagonists are also presented. I procured the sheet for the battle of Mehr which was fought between the Allies (Hanover, Brunswick & Hesse Cassel) and the French in August of 1758. I found the depiction of the terrain and forces to be absolutely correct. If you game the period 1740-1783, these maps will be an invaluable addition to your collection. Jim may be reached at email: Jackson@mail.acongrp.com

Thanks, Dave, for your kind words. I have neglected this series of maps over the last year, focusing my energies on the SYWA Journal. I plan on producing more battle maps in the near future.

8. Neil Cogswell reports:

"Horace St Paul and the Austrian Army are about to liberate Silesia. Unfortunately, the staff cannot provide sufficiently detailed maps. I have the modern 1:100,000 topographical maps of Poland, but relating the smaller villages to those familiar in 18th century Silesia is extremely difficult. What I really need is a pre-1945 road map of Silesia with the small villages marked in their old German style. I have searched bookshops to find these - thousands must have been printed and just as many thousands discarded. I will keep on searching BUT, perhaps you can help. A photocopy would be very welcome and might get the Austrians to Breslau that much quicker! Please send to, e-mail, or contact me at the above addresses."

Raised 1760 and disbanded 1763. I am interested in finding out more about this regiment as I have other accounts of Wedderburn's Regiment raised in 1761 being numbered the 102nd Regiment of Foot. Does this mean that The Queen's Own Royal Volunteers had ceased to exist by 1761?

I am embarrassed to advise that I mistakenly mentioned in the last episode that Maurice was thirteen when he set off for Flanders. Actually, he was only twelve.

More casualties were sustained at Malplaquet than were suffered in any other battle in modern European history until Borodino, in 1812. The Allies alone are believed to have lost more than 25,000.

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